Hugh Nibley
"(speaking of Amulek) A model citizen, hardworking, rich, well-born, immensely respectable: 'And behold, I am also a man of no small reputation among all those who know me' (Alma 10:4). But to get rich this man could not neglect his business; he was contracted to Mammon instead of God: 'Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord,' even though he had the best opportunity to know them, 'for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power. . . . Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear. . . . I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart' (Alma 10:5-6). That went on until an angel stopped him (Alma 10:7). Being thus admonished, Amulek forsook 'all his gold, and silver, and his precious things which were in the land of Ammonihah, for the word of God' (Alma 15:16). It had to be one or the other. But all was not lost, you might say, he still had his old friends and admirers and loved ones. Please let us not underestimate the power of money. Having lost his fortune, he was promptly 'rejected by those who were once his friends and also by his father and his kindred' (Alma 15:16)." (The Prophetic Book of Mormon, p. 562)